Congressman James Sensenbrenner, a 1968 graduate of University of Wisconsin Law School, will present the 2015 Robert W. Kastenmeier Lecture on Friday, Oct. 2. This year’s free public talk is scheduled for 4 p.m. in Room 2260 at the Law School.

In his address, “A History of the USA Freedom Act,” Sensenbrenner will draw on his first-hand knowledge of the legislation enacted earlier this year. The USA Freedom Act imposes limits on the bulk collection of Americans’ phone data by the intelligence community. It also restores several expired provisions of the Patriot Act, which was passed as an anti-terrorism measure after the Sept. 11 attacks. Sensenbrenner introduced both the USA Freedom Act and the Patriot Act in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“While I believe the Patriot Act appropriately balanced national security concerns and civil rights, I have always worried about potential abuses,” he wrote in a 2013 statement. “Seizing phone records of millions of innocent people is excessive and un-American.”

Sensenbrenner served ten years in the Wisconsin State Legislature, before he won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1978. He has represented Wisconsin in the House ever since.

The Kastenmeier Lecture is named for the late Robert Kastenmeier, a former Wisconsin congressman and UW Law alumnus. Advance registration is requested.